Forgotten Classic: The Dictators - The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! (1975)

Now this is only a forgotten classic to most; to others, a few others, it's a total classic. I picked up on it whilst reading old issues of Blastitude, and seeing that was up there as scribe Joe S. Harrington's #3 album of all time! It sounded so good from his description, and after checking it out I can confirm that yes, this is the music that parties, drunken summers and stupid drunken evenings are made of. If Andrew WK was around in 1975, he would have been in The Dictators. It's half proto-punk, copping the Ramones 50s/60s moves a few years ahead of time (it's got covers of California Sun and I've Got You Babe on it) and making dumb a virtue, but its also got great 70s classic rock chops to it. The guitar work is exemplary, particularly in the spectacularly formed solo from the charmingly silly ode to black girls Back To Africa. The band are both hella dumb and yet pretty smart in the way they write the songs, which are gloriously stupid and cleverly catchy at the same time. It's also an album that takes in every great teenage concern; cars, girls, rock, drinking, wrestling, and idiocy. The band were a basic 2 guitar, bass and drums 70s rock piece, but they also had a secret weapon in roadie/ocassional vocalist/cover star/mascot "Secret Weapon" Handsome Dick Manitoba, who would later become their lead vocalist for a lot of studio work (as well as suing indie artist Caribou when he used to be called Manitoba, and now fronting the reformed MC5! heavy work!). You can hear him here introducing and singing most of Two Tub Man in fine retarded wrestler style. Weekend is probably the most beautiful song about being a teenager ever. So yes, in conclusion, The Dictators = politically incorrect, dumb, heavy fun. The best party band you've probably never heard.

The Dictators - California Sun
The Dictators - Two Tub Man
The Dictators - Weekend